Air or Nitrogen when topping up tires

[SCOPESYS]

When your tires need topping up, do you just use compressed air, or do you get them topped up with Nitrogen, (Yourself, Dealer, or other Auto Garage, (like Cosco))

How much difference does it really make between air & dry Nitrogen.

Sponsored

 

[Deezy]

Personally, I think Nitrogen is more of a gimmick than anything. The main reason pushed on us for using Nitrogen is to keep your pressure up so your fuel economy stays up. Heck, with TPMS we know when to add air, which is what, a few times a year? So, with Nitrogen you might have to top it off one less time? Big flippin deal! If it was that great, you would never have to top it off.

 

[kg4fxg]

I carry a self pump that I plug into the cigarette lighter thing. I had to do that often to reset the tires on the Mini. Easier to buy one than go to gas station as those are mostly screwed up and charge .75 cents. I have not needed to reset the Honda. So just air. One dealer said Nitrogen as it would not change and keep tire pressure the same no warnings. Sounds good. I bought a unit off Amazon that has digital readout. So I don't have to use a tire gauge.

We have had cold here. Below freezing. I park in the garage. My previous car would flash low tire. Not the Civic. So far so good. Wife's parks outside. I reset it often, just drive around the block. Simple. I would vote for anything that would keep me from checking and resetting but so far no issues with the Civic, not so on the Mini Cooper. However, the Mini Cooper had run flats. At least with the Civic I can tell if I have a flat.

 

[Nanook]

This topic always brings out lots of emotion

 

[civicls]

Nitrogen is nothing more than a gimmick, as stated above.

 

[jgreen16]

This topic always brings out lots of emotion

Yeah, I've seen many a thread on this subject devolve into name calling, etc. It really shouldn't though. There are "gas laws" that cover this stuff. You can't change physics or chemistry. Temperature has an effect on a gas in a container, in this case the tire is the container.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_laws

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=191

 

[jgreen16]

One dealer said Nitrogen as it would not change and keep tire pressure the same no warnings. Sounds good.

It may sound good, but it is absolutely false.

 

[racer]

Air is like 80% Nitrogen to begin with. That said, I know top level race teams use Nitrogen to limit pressure fluctuations. In their extreme cases even a .5 psi can make a difference, so stability is key. I can't notice that small a change with my butt dyno. I use whatever is available. The gas station I frequent offers free air. A tire store I sometimes frequent offers Nitrogen. It could be argued that once you take a 'nitrogen' fill and add air, you've ruined the benefit of the previous nitrogen fill. imho, its more important to make frequent checks of your tires/pressure than worry about whether you have Air or Nitrogen in them.

 

[jred721]

I remember watching a Top Gear episode about the Nissan GTR and Clarkson went on to say Nissan filled GTR tires with nitrogen because it was less volatile than air. Not sure how much this holds true. Regardless though, we drive Civics. No need for nitrogen imo.

 

[racer]

I remember watching a Top Gear episode about the Nissan GTR and Clarkson went on to say Nissan filled GTR tires with nitrogen because it was less volatile than air. Not sure how much this holds true. Regardless though, we drive Civics. No need for nitrogen imo.

Nitrogen has lower moisture content. As such, it doesn't have as sever swings in pressure/temperature changes. On a race car, tire temps can climb to 200+ degrees.. enough to boil out any moisture, but as we learned, Pressure is a function of Volume and Temp.. so as Temp rises, so does pressure.. The more stable nitrogen reduces the amount of pressure changes.

 

[Nanook]

Nitrogen has lower moisture content. As such, it doesn't have as sever swings in pressure/temperature changes. On a race car, tire temps can climb to 200+ degrees.. enough to boil out any moisture, but as we learned, Pressure is a function of Volume and Temp.. so as Temp rises, so does pressure.. The more stable nitrogen reduces the amount of pressure changes.

Nitrogen versus air has no bearing on moisture content whatsoever. Now. Should the nitrogen they put into the tire have been “dried” prior to placing into the container...that’s a different story.

 

[racer]

https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a3894/nitrogen-in-tires/

Is there really an advantage to using nitrogen rather than air in car tires, such as better fuel economy, a smoother ride, or longer tire life? Well, sort of.

From the top: Air is 78 percent nitrogen and just under 21 percent oxygen, and the rest is water vapor, CO2, and small concentrations of noble gases such as neon and argon. We can ignore the other gases.

There are several compelling reasons to use pure nitrogen in tires. First is that nitrogen is less likely to migrate through tire rubber than is oxygen, which means that your tire pressures will remain more stable over the long term. Racers figured out pretty quickly that tires filled with nitrogen rather than air also exhibit less pressure change with temperature swings. That means more consistent inflation pressures during a race as the tires heat up. And when you're tweaking a race car's handling with half-psi changes, that's important.

Passenger cars can also benefit from the more stable pressures. But there's more: Humidity (water) is a Bad Thing to have inside a tire. Water, present as a vapor or even as a liquid in a tire, causes more of a pressure change with temperature swings than dry air does. It also promotes corrosion of the steel or aluminum rim.

 

[jgreen16]

Pick up one of these, and fill all the tires you'd like. Still only gets you to either 95% or 98% purity though. As reference, nitrogen makes up just a bit over 78% of air.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/RTQ4558001800

 

[jgreen16]

Nitrogen versus air has no bearing on moisture content whatsoever. Now. Should the nitrogen they put into the tire have been “dried” prior to placing into the container...that’s a different story.

The processes that are used to get the nitrogen to the purities we're talking about for tire inflation do remove the moisture from the air, so it has been "dried".

Compressed air may, or may not have the moisture removed, depending on the compressor system. The cheap portable air compressors do not remove the moisture, nor do most of the ones that are readily available from the big box stores aimed towards home garage users, and not professional shops.

 

[SCOPESYS]

The processes that are used to get the nitrogen to the purities we're talking about for tire inflation do remove the moisture from the air, so it has been "dried".

Compressed air may, or may not have the moisture removed, depending on the compressor system. The cheap portable air compressors do not remove the moisture, nor do most of the ones that are readily available from the big box stores aimed towards home garage users, and not professional shops.

Exactly -- the main reason for using Nitrogen, is that it IS dried Nitrogen, while "air" from most compressors may have a significant water content.

The Dry Nitrogen filled tire will keep a more stable pressure over temperature swings because of the lack of moisture.

Ever wondered why your tires "seem" to go flatter as winter approaches ??
PV=RT

Sponsored